#over50triathlete: Best Post Of The Year: Swimming Is Learning, Favorite Things Updated

I was a little nervous last night. I knew I was going to FAST swim practice in the morning, and that always makes me a little nervous. In fact, it has been almost two years since I've been to practice.

Given my absence, you will likely guess it is not my favorite activity....and if you've read my Totals for 2014 post, you know for sure. However, given we are almost exactly half a year away from Ironman Boulder (189 days from now), it is time to begin increasing my yardage.

As I swam today, I was reminded of something profound (I think) about my swimming experiences in connection to my work as a educator. Let me tell you about it.

I arrived at Schoolcraft College fitness complex around 6:45 this morning....

...and made my way to the pool. I thought about helping put out the lane markers, but I was hesitant. I was thinking "what will I do if the lane marker doesn't quite stretch far enough and I can hook it to the wall....what will I do?" I wasn't sure and this question made me watch from afar until it was time to get in and begin the warmup.

I've been to probably 30 FAST practices over the years, so this isn't new for me. Despite swimming hundreds of miles over the last five years and being a respectable age group triathlete, there is a sense - for me - that I'm a "newby" in the pool.

There are six lanes in the pool. Lane 1 is for the slowest and most novice swimmers. Speed and intensity increases as you move down the pool to lane 6 where there are former college swimmers, a Kona qualifier or two, and Coach Jenny who has swum the English Channel. Two years ago I was swimming in lane 2, so I jumped right back in there today. I definitely was set on staying out of lane 1. :-)

Coach Jenny laid the workout on the deck at the end of the lane, and we started swimming at 7. The total workout was 2700 yards with a lot of freestyle stroke but with some drills and mixed strokes in the last 500 yards. Things went great for me in those first 2200 yards. I felt strong, and I was feeling successful. In fact, most of the workout I was leading group down the lane, and I began to think I should be swimming in lane 3!!!

And then we began the last 500 yards. That's when I remembered what it is like to be a learner...not completely different than be a student in a school classroom.

The last 500 yards of the workout said something about distance medley, kick drills, fist drills (or something like that), backstroke and fly. I know what some of those things mean, but not all of them. And the ones I do know about I don't do well.

Reading the workout, I felt a bit confused. I don't know the order of the distance medley strokes. I was listening to what others in the lane were saying, trying to figure out what I should do. I don't know how swim the fly and I can't swim in a straight line when I backstroke. I sometimes swim into others when doing the backstroke. I decided to move my position from first in line to last in line. And then I decided I would just swim freestyle, completely avoiding doing what was listed on the workout sheet.

Upshot: I felt unsure of myself, and I was unwilling to be a risk taker in the FAST swim workout environment. Swimming is hard for me compared to biking and running....I've got a lot to learn. This can be frustrating and can create self-doubt at times. This is true despite being an adult with lots of success in life to help me persevere through tough learning moments.

This is thought-provoking because it reminds me of what happens for kids every day at school. They enter the classroom with strengths and areas where learning is not so immediate. Much more often than me, most (maybe all?) students have to persevere when presented with learning challenges.

It helps me to remember how hard learning can be in the pool and connect those difficult moments with what what kids experience each day at school....and what I/we must do in order to support them in being successful learners.

note: Will probably revise this sometime tomorrow.....not yet happy with it but getting tired. :-)

Favorite Things...while swimming today and letting my thoughts wander, I came up with the following list of the things I most enjoy owning...with #3 on the list being a new entry. Not sure why I was thinking about this...but sharing it now.

1. Saeco Super Automatic Espresso Machine - it has been #1 since 2009. Cappucino everyday at 5 AM.